GopyiightN?._ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. REV. SETH REED; D. D. The Story of My Life SETH REED it Detroit Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church 1914 Cincinnati: JENNINGS AND GRAHAM New York: EATON AND MAINS Copyright, 1914, by Jennings and Graham- MAR 23 1914 fa ©CI.A371001 Resolution Adopted by Detroit Annual Conference, 1912. "We, the members of the Detroit Annual Conference, desire to congratulate our beloved brother and co-laborer, Dr. Seth Reed, on having entered his ninetieth year and his sixty-eighth year as a minister of our Lord Jesus Christ; and should his health warrant, we request him to prepare and preach at our next Annual Conference a sermon ap- propriate to the occasion. "FRANK S. ROWLAND:9 Resolution Touching Dr. Seth Reed's "Story of My Life'9 Adopted by Detroit Annual Conference, 1913. " Whereas, The Detroit Conference last year, by reso- lution, invited the Rev. Seth Reed, D. D., to preach or speak Qt this Conference session in memorial of his nine- tieth birthday; and " Whereas, Dr. Reed graciously responded in the recital of ' The Story of My Life,' addressing the Conference for nearly one hour and a half to the great delight and edifi- cation of a large audience ; therefore be it "Resolved, That this Conference express its apprecia- tion of his splendid effort and respectfully request Dr. Reed, if it shall be convenient for him, to commit this story to writing and publish the same in book form. "(Signed) GEORGE ELLIOTT, A. R. JOHNS, H. ADDIS LEESON, FRANK S. ROWLAND." CONTENTS PAGE Early Life, 7 Conversion, 11 Teaching School, 14 My Schooling and Springville Academy, 18 Teaching in Grand Rapids and Studying Law, 19 My Last School and Change of Life- Work, 23 First Conference and Circuit, •> - 29 Michigan Conference in 1845, and Maple- ton Circuit, - - - - - - 36 Marriage and Bennington Circuit, - 40 Genesee, Mt. Clemens, and Pontiac, - 48 Ypsilanti and Monroe, - 52 Ann Arbor and Port Huron, - - - 56 Woodward and Lafayette, 63 Ypsilanti, Second Term, - - * - 70 Providence Conference, ... 76 Home Again in Detroit Conference, - 81 Retired Relation, 87 The Story of My Life Early Life. My parents were born in Southern Con- necticut and were from early New England ancestry; my father's ancestors coming to Providence in 1660, and my mother's to Bos- ton in 1630. Both families trace their records back to early English times, having owned es- tates in England prior to the coming of William the Conqueror in 1066. The first of my mother's ancestors in this country was William Buell. He was one of those religious enthusiasts known as Puritans, of whom Lord Russell wrote, "They were the most remarkable body of men the world has ever produced." The Buell family went with a company of Church people from Boston, cut- ting their way through the dense wilderness and settling at what was afterwards Norwich, and there establishing the first settlement made THE STORY OF MY LIFE by white men in Connecticut. Colony and Church were one at that time in New England, and the Church the important one, for the col- onists who settled this new country brought with them the Church organization; so these early families came with strong religious con- victions. Both families were represented in the co- lonial councils and with those who fought and bled and died to make the Nation free. Well do I remember, when a small boy, seeing on the platform at the annual training-day, some half dozen of the old Revolutionary soldiers with their canes and crutches, or in their wheel- chairs, and of hearing them talk over their war-experiences. When my parents were married "the star of empire" had just taken its western course; so they moved west into the town of Hart- wick, Otsego County, New York, where they bought a small farm covered by a thin soil, under which was hard-pan and over which were rocks and stones. Here were born five children, of which I 8 , THE STORY OF MY LIFE was the youngest* My father died four months before my birth, and was buried on the banks of the Susquehanna. Among my ear- liest memories is that of seeing my mother weep while she thought of the departed one, and I would weep because she wept. In addition to her loneliness was her sorrow at learning that I had inherited the asthma from her, was born with the dreadful disease, and suffered with it in the worst form I ever knew for over twenty years. When I was about thirteen years old my mother sold her farm, and the family moved to Mansfield, Cattaraugus County, New York, then a wilderness country. Here my only brother, Horace, four years older than myself, began clearing away the immense forest trees to prepare the ground for raising the family supplies. Those were the days of absolute economy, if not of pinching want. We found that necessity had access to many a nature's larder which had been in waiting for those who would seek it. Our sugar was given us by the *My birth was on June 2, 1823. 9 THE STORY OF MY LIFE tall maples; our meats were furnished princi- pally from the woods. Occasionally a neigh- bor would kill a deer or a bear, and then pieces would be sent to the other neighbors, thus allowing those wild animals to assist in culti- vating neighborhood friendships. Not able myself to do much labor, I would often catch strings of speckled trout, with which the streams in those forests abounded, and thus started some young ideas of my own impor- tance in the family. On account of my ill- health I was able to attend the little country schools but a few days at a time, for the attacks of asthma were frequent, and each would hold me on the floor in a horizontal position, face downward, generally for one or two days and nights, when I would be about a week in re- covering. This disease made me slender and haggard; my chest was affected so that while in my teens I was bowed like "a tottering wall," and was familiarly called "Death on Stilts." When I began to recover from the asthma, which was not till after I was twenty years of age, I resolved, if possible, to recover the form 10 THE STORY OF MY LIFE of my chest and shoulders, which I did after years of persistent practice. Conversion. It was while our family lived in Mansfield that the greatest change of our lives occurred; that is, in the matter of religion. My mother had been a professed Universalist and had taught her children that belief. In my child- hood years I would hear her converse with her neighbors of the same belief, and generally their conversation would be loaded with criti- cisms upon Christians and the Church. Hav- ing heard so much of their objections to re- ligion and their arguments in favor of their belief, I became quite a young adept in their use, and I would pride myself on my ability to resist the approach of Christians who sought the salvation of my soul. But when I was six- teen years old, and my mother about fifty, there began a new chapter in our history. My oldest sister became a Christian, and the skepticism of her Universalist husband drove her to the study of the Bible doctrines of salvation. Her ii THE STORY OF MY LIFE life and arguments, attended by God's Spirit, caused a shaking of our mother's belief, and she was brought under deep conviction for sin, and finally came into the peace of God. We children saw a marked change in her even be- fore she spoke of it to us. I think the first expression she ever made of her new faith and joy she made .to me. One morning before I went out she came and sat by my side and said: "My dear boy, I have loved you intensely, have cared for your health and comfort to the best of my ability, but I have never been a true mother to you. I have never spoken to you about your soul, nor have I ever prayed with you as I should have done. I ask your for- giveness, and now I want to pray with you." Then she knelt by my side, and I still sat in my chair, for I had never heard praying in my home, and did not know how to act. But, O, how mother prayed ! She prayed for me ; she took hold of God, and God took hold of me. When she arose I walked out to the fields an unhappy youth. A spirit was on me that I was not acquainted with. I felt that mother 12 THE STORY OF MY LIFE was right and I was wrong. For many days I was wretched while the conviction grew upon me that I was a sinner and the faith that my mother had taught me was worthless. This conviction seemed to increase until one day, when I was working in a field alone, it seemed to me that I could not live, and I knew not what to do. I found a little hollow, and went down to the bottom of it and lay on the ground and prayed. It was the first time I had ever prayed. I did not know what to say and do not know what I said; but I know that I called for mercy, and I think my call was pretty loud. I do know that when I came up from that hollow everything around me seemed changed — everything. The change seemed beautiful, transcendently beautiful. I now know that the real change was within and was substantial, and the substance produced its shadow, the seem- ing beauty without. That was the beginning of life for me, and I would sooner lose any other part of life from my memory than lose that. O, how many times has my heart thanked God for the gift of my mother! And *3 THE STORY OF MY LIFE haw I wish other mothers would let God speak through their lips to their children as mine did to me! During the day of my conversion I was supremely happy, and I often wondered how I could inform the neighbors, who were to have a prayer-meeting that afternoon, how I felt. But as I approached the schoolhouse, two or three brethren who were out talking said, as soon as they observed me, "Why, Seth, you have found the Lord, have n't you I" That broke the fetters; my soul was free, and we had a glorious time. Teaching School. At the age of sixteen, being anxious to do something towards my own support, I hired to a farmer to work for the summer, but after a trial of a few days I had to leave and go home sick and sad. "What shall I do for a living?" was the question in my mind by night and day. I finally thought I would prepare as best I could and try to teach school ; the work for preparation would have to be done by myself. So I gathered a few text-books such 14 THE STORY OF MY LIFE as were in use at that time — The Columbian Spelling Book, Murray's English Reader, Kirkam's Grammar, Daboll's Arithmetic — and began my work. I applied for the little sum- mer school in our own neighborhood, which was to begin in two weeks. The director said he would hire me, but could pay me only what they would pay a woman teacher — five dollars a month, and I board around. I accepted the terms and began teaching my first school June i, 1840, one day before I was seventeen years of age. I had not been told where to begin my boarding around; so at the close of school that day I walked a long way to the director's home. He being not in, I told his wife my errand, and she replied in prompt and definite language which I understood, "I have twelve boys of my own, and I will not have another in my house." I started for my mother's home, and I think it rained a few drops, though I saw no clouds in the sky. My mother cheered me, and I went through the summer school receiving my fifteen dollars for three months' teaching, and perhaps felt a 15 THE STORY OF MY LIFE little like a business man. I took my money and went to pay the merchant in Flushing who had trusted me for some clothes. He handed me back the money and said, "Take it and go to school." I shall never forget how that act surprised and encouraged me. The next winter I taught school in a dis- trict adjoining my first. Towards spring I was shocked to learn that several of my scholars were having the whooping-cough. My mother had been often warned by physicians that I must not be allowed to have that disease, as they were sure I could not live through it; hence I had been carefully kept from exposure. Some of my scholars had it very severely, one or two died, and my school was broken up. Of course, I and my family were excited, and our surprise at my remaining unaffected was greatly increased by learning, upon' investiga- tion, that I was the person who gave the dis- ease to the school: I had it, but so slightly that neither I nor any one else knew it at the time. The next winter, 1841, I taught in a district adjoining the one in which I taught the 16 THE STORY OF MY LIFE winter before. I found my employment very pleasant, especially as it afforded opportunities for learning, which I endeavored to improve. One day there called at my school an aged man, blind, poor, and homeless, but intelligent and religious. He would meet some of his ex- penses by selling some verses which he would compose and get printed. One verse I remem- ber he composed on Universalism, which was then more popular than it is to-day, as follows : " Mode by an ancient author given, A speedy way to get to heaven, In four short lines without a schism, Essence of Universalism — Judas of old, so brave and bold, When by his Master cursed, With his own cord outswung his Lord And got to heaven first." He composed the following unique acrostic, and said that as my name was so short and could not be spliced, he had been obliged to splice the article, so the right section of the acrostic is to be read first, then turn the book upside down and read the other section from bottom upwards : 17 THE STORY OF MY LIFE siq jo vpnoA 9ip SuissedinSublime in the thoughts of 'puim his heart DUijojd 12 ipiM p^AVopuEach virtue as bright as the 'q3e}s am morning, uo }de mou yz\p jsoui aqThe beauties of science and pmi| art -aq Suia^9j 9q oj sui99s 9His character ever adorning, '9AOqE sj9AVod 9ip Aq p9A(os9Replenished with wisdom to U9AIS 9q take jpqs poQ 05 1U9UIOUJ qo^Each precept the Savior has •9Aoj given, jo *uids e qjiAV pgqDuuEndeavoring in meekness to 4u9Ai29q make jo diqsjoAV 9qi joj p9u3is9Diurnal advances to heaven. My Schooling and Springville Academy. In the intervals of the three schools I taught in Cattaraugus County, I attended a small academy in the little village of Springville, Erie County, New York, at three different times, amounting in all to less than half a year. That constituted my public schooling. I paid my tuition by ringing the bell and sweeping the floors. During the last term I boarded myself in my room in the building. My staple articles of diet were bread, rolls, and potatoes roasted in the coals of my fireplace, and I 18 THE STORY OF MY LIFE would sometimes pick up the sticks to make the fire. The cost of living was less then than it is now, or I could not have lived on less than half a dollar per week, as I did then. True, my living was rather frugal, but my report of class-standing was quite satisfactory; it placed my name within three of the head of the list. I continued my habits of study alone, without a teacher, without assistance of any kind other than from a few books, and those often bor- rowed from neighbors, and by the light from the large stone fireplace in our small, one-room log shanty. Teaching in Grand Rapids and Studying Law. In the fall of 1842 my mother and family moved to Michigan and settled in Grand Rap- ids, which was then a live and growing village. There were twTo or three select schools and one district school in the place. I taught the district school that winter, and boarded around. The incoming families at that time from all directions and of many nationalities brought *9 THE STORY OF MY LIFE a strange medley of scholars together, to the number sometimes of sixty to seventy in the one schoolroom. They brought the school- books which were used in the places from which they came, and they formed a strange collec- tion. The work of aggregating and classify- ing the scholars and books taxed my ingenuity to the utmost. There was no law in Michigan then by which the grading and selecting of classes and books could be made. Among the reading books that were brought I counted thir- teen different kinds; of grammars, six; and of other books in proportion. Besides the nu- merous classes from the alphabet up through the primary English branches there was a class in Natural Philosophy (Comstock's), one in Astronomy (Burritt's Geography of the Heavens), and one in Surveying (Flint's) ; so I was kept busy that winter day and night. In the spring I entered as a student in the law office of Martin & Johnson in Grand Rap- ids. Mr. Johnson was soon after appointed a Federal officer to one of the West India Islands, and Mr. Martin was later Justice of the Su- 20 THE STORY OF MY LIFE prcmc Court of Michigan. A fellow student in the office was S. L. Withey, who afterward be- came a prominent lawyer and judge. During that summer court was being held in Grand Rapids, and a case for jury trial was called, when it was learned that the jury lacked one of the required number. The sheriff glanced over the crowd and, seeing me, called my name. Not willing to give the audience my reason for declining, and supposing that when I went forward some lawyer who knew me would object and I would step aside, I went forward, and, no objection being made, I was seated with the jury. The case was heard and the jury was sent to their room in the after- noon. We began discussing the case imme- diately, but soon found that we could not agree ; so in the evening our conversation drifted to other themes: to the coming election, politics, etc. It was then learned that I was not yet a voter; so the foreman at once called the officer and sent word to the judge that there was an infant on the jury and we could not agree, whereupon the judge called the jury out and 21 THE STORY OF MY LIFE dismissed us. That was the most I ever had to do with a jury trial. I made my home that summer with my cousin, Porter Reed, a farmer living about a mile from the Rapids. At times as I was able I would assist him on his farm. It was while here that I read those masterly and funda- mental works on Common Law, viz. : " Black- stone's Commentaries" and "Kent's Commen- taries," from which I have received assistance in my ministry in various ways, and would rec- ommend every young preacher to read them, especially the first-named. From his central spiritual home in the- ology, where the young preacher is supposed to be a familiar resident, he may make excur- sions out in the direction of history, philosophy, and science, if only he will be sure to return home for nights and Sundays. And many of our preachers would be more useful and their services more in demand by the people if they were better acquainted with the great facts of Law and Nature which lie close around their spiritual dwelling-place. 22 THE STORY OF MY LIFE My Last School and Change of Life- work. In the winter of 1843-4 I taught the school in the town of Otisco, Ionia County, Michigan. It wTas the fifth and last public school that I taught. It was in a new country, and when I went up to commence my school I found the people building the schoolhouse, which was not yet finished. So for a week or two I taught with saw and hammer, trusting to make my mark on their institution of learning, if no- where else. Though the country was new and the community newT, yet the school was in some respects the most interesting one that I had taught. Some of the scholars had been teach- ers, several of them were older than myself, and a more general desire for learning was manifest than I had ever seen in any school. I adopted the practice of giving at different times through the day short talks upon themes of general interest, though not connected di- rectly with their text-books. The interest these talks awakened was gratifying, and often the parents would attend them, which served to 23 THE STORY OF MY LIFE strengthen the attachment of the scholars to the school. There were other considerations besides the character of the school, which gave that winter an unusual place in my memory. One was the very serious thoughts that wrould per- sist in coming to my mind as to my plan for my life-work. It was now four years since my conversion, and the experiences of those years gave me new viewpoints. From the very first of my religious life, Christians and some- times ministers would speak to me about preaching the gospel; sometimes it would be but a casual allusion, and sometimes an earnest appeal. But it served to keep the subject be- fore my mind, and often led to a comparison between the legal profession and the Christian ministry, with a growing tendency in favor of the latter. During that winter the religious condition of the people in the new countries appealed to me as never before. They would hear a ser- mon from their circuit-preacher once in two or four weeks, and generally at its close he 24 THE STORY OF MY LIFE would leap into his saddle and start for his next appointment, perhaps five to ten miles away. But few, if any, religious meetings would be held in the intervals. I would often be asked to read a sermon to the people or give an exhortation or hold a prayer-meeting. In responding to their requests I found that many more people were interested in religion than was supposed. And further, I found that my personal experiences while leading these meetings were such as to lift me to realms of clearer vision and to broaden my ideas of life's demands upon me. These two great facts : the religious needs of the world around me, and my personal obligations to choose the highest and best plan for my life-work, held debate in my mind until, at the close of my school, I was prepared to say to my friends and to the Church, "If I am wanted as a herald of sal- vation to lost men, here am I; send me." The closing day of my school in Otisco was one of peculiar interest. The house was filled with scholars, their parents, and neighbors, and many and tender were the expressions of 25 THE STORY OF MY LIFE appreciation given. The scholars — all who could write — had written to me a personal let- ter expressing their pleasure in the work and privileges of the school, and as they passed out of the house they placed them in my hands. Some were in verse, among which was one from a young lady of Christian experience and who had been a teacher. The first and the last stanzas were as follows: " Adieu, kind sir, we now must part, Keen anguish fills the aching heart. No more your voice in school we hear, No more your counsels greet our ear. Go then, dear friend, your Maker calls, Go sound the trump from Zion's walls. The work is great, the work is good, To call lost sinners home to God." On my return to Grand Rapids I called at the law-office and told my preceptors that I had concluded to make a change in my text- books; that in place of Commentaries upon Common Law by Blackstone and Kent, I would take Commentaries upon the Divine Law by Clarke and Henry, and in place of Chittie's "Pleadings" I would take Fletcher's "Appeal 26 THE STORY OF MY LIFE to Matter of Fact and Common Sense. " In other words, I had concluded that, rather than place myself where I would often be tempted to clear the guilty or to convict the innocent, I would spend my life in preaching the gospel of salvation to all mankind. I was gratified at the approval which the attorneys expressed at my change of plan. Soon as my new pur- pose was made known to Rev. Franklin Gage, preacher in charge of the Grand Rapids Cir- cuit, he set me at work at different points of his vast charge till the meeting of his next Quarterly Conference, which occurred June 15, 1844, Rev. Larmon Chatfield presiding. That was the last session of Quarterly Conference of the old Grand Rapids Circuit. One act of that last session was to license me as a local preacher and recommend me to the Michigan Annual Conference for admission on trial. First Conference and Circuit. That Annual Conference was held that fall in Coldwater, with Bishop Leonidas L. Ham- line presiding. The coming of this man of great 29 THE STORY OF MY LIFE reputation, and especially his sermon on Sunday morning, produced a profound impression. His text was, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." He unfolded the sub- ject by answering three questions: What is heart-purity? Is heart-purity attainable in this life? What are its blessings? The theme was so lucidly presented that it became my theological compend on that subject to this day. That was the first Conference of ministers I had ever seen, and my impression of them was that they -were great and good men, and my first impression has not been qualified much by subsequent acquaintance with them. Some of the members of that Conference who live in my memory are Colclazer, Pilcher, Staples, Richards, Crippen, Bush, Gage, Chatfield, Er- canbrack, Bibbins, Billings, Collins, Champion, Smith, Chaplin, Davidson, Baughman, and many others whose names are written in the "Lamb's Book of Life." I and some other young preachers were billeted with some farmers' families about four 30 THE STORY OF MY LIFE miles from the village. In the evenings we would hold meetings in that neighborhood. There I first heard John Russell preach. His text was Rom. 8:13: "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." The sermon would have done honor to a doctor of divinity or a bishop. At that Conference the Grand Rapids Cir- cuit was divided, the village becoming a station, with A. M. Fitch appointed, and the circuit taking the name of Flat River, with David Whitlock and Seth Reed appointed. Brother Whitlock, a blessed man of God, preached but twice after Conference, when he was seized with pneumonia and died. That left me alone on the circuit during the year. It was an im- mense charge, embracing all of Montcalm County (which was then settled) , part of Ionia County, nearly all of Kent, and part of Ottawa Counties. I went around once in four weeks, preaching regularly twenty to twenty-four times a month, as sometimes a new neighborhood would move into the woods since my last visit. 31 THE STORY OF MY LIFE I heard of a camp of lumbermen in the pine- woods where the city of Greenville now stands, and went up and preached to them one evening in one of their shanties. It was the first ser- mon ever preached in Greenville, if not the first in Montcalm County. The experience I gained that year was valu- able to me, though gained under difficulties. I succeeded well with my Conference studies, though my saddle was my principal place of study and my saddlebags contained my library. The salaries of Methodist preachers at that time were fixed by the Discipline at $100 for a single man and $200 for a married man; and if any one should receive in excess of these amounts, he was to pay it over to the Confer- ence, to be divided among those who had re- ceived less than those amounts. I received and reported for that year's work $118, but I was never asked to refund the excess. I fan- cied that some of the younger brethren felt a little jealous because I had received so much — but maybe not. I am sure, however, that after that year I had plenty of opportunities to apply 32 John Russell and Seth Reed. THE STORY OF MY LIFE the little excess of my salary that year to the great deficiencies in future years, for it was many years before I received again my full Disciplinary allowance. An amusing incident occurred one day as I was riding in the woods in Ottawa County. I was reading Fletcher's "Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense/' a work on Human Depravity, preparing for my examination at the next Conference. My horse's bridle lay upon her neck as she walked slowly along. A tree had broken from a high stump on one side of the road and had lodged on the other side, being about as high as my head. I did not see the tree until my head struck it, when I and my saddlebags were scraped off on to the ground. My horse seemed to think it a joke, and she capered and galloped through the woods to a log-house where I was accustomed to preach, and Mr. Stoddard, who lived there, put the horse in the stable and told his wife to get a chicken ready, for Brother Reed was coming from somewhere; and I trudged on with my saddlebags on my arm, to find a hearty 35 THE STORY OF MY LIFE welcome and good dinner. Then I resumed my ride and my study of "Matter of Fact and Common Sense," having had such an impress- ive illustration. Michigan Conference in 1845, AND Mapleton Circuit. The session of the Michigan Conference in 1845 was *n Detroit, in the old State Capital Building, near State Street, presided over by the eloquent Bishop Janes. Here I passed my first examination in my Conference studies, un- der Revs. Simonds, Richards, and Harrison. The class at first consisted of twenty-four in number, but some fell out the first year. My second appointment was to the Maple- ton Circuit, with Rev. Samuel Bessey as preacher in charge. It embraced parts of Clin- ton, Shiawassee, and Ingham Counties, with headquarters at Rochester Colony, a rural neighborhood in the northeast corner of the circuit. It was largely a wilderness country. Often there were stretches of several miles through woods without a house. One day I 36 THE STORY OF MY LIFE rode some six miles south from Dewitt, and came to the home of a family named Page. Father Page said to me, "If you will stay over night with us I will go to my nearest neighbor, two miles from here, and get some hay for your horse.' I thanked him, but dined with his family, and rode on several miles to another clearing. That man Page then lived where the city of Lansing now stands. I was walking alone one day on the Grand River Road and saw off to my right, coming towards the road, two bears: an old one and her cub. As they came near, the view was obscured by bushes that grew beside the road, so that the bears could not see me, neither could I see them until they crowded through the bushes into the road, which happened to be within a few feet of where I stood. We both expressed surprise: she by standing up on her hind legs and opening her mouth wide, and I by standing up on all my legs and open- ing my eyes wide. We were both interested: I in studying natural history, and she, I sup- pose, in studying theology. While we thus 37 THE STORY OF MY LIFE stood gazing at each other, the young bear ran up a tree that stood near,^and the old one turned and ran into the woods as though she was disgusted with her observer. In a few minutes a man came along, walking with a cane which was also a gun; with it he shot the cub, which fell dead to the ground. So I escaped with a thankful heart and a good story to tell. One very stormy day in that winter I called at the house of a Scotchman, whom I found to be an intelligent man. He had cleared a little place in the woods, where he had built his house, though yet unfinished. In the cracks and corners I saw a few books stowed away, doubtless awaiting a better place. In one of them (I do not remember the title nor the author) I read a passage which stayed in my memory, and stays there yet. It was as fol- lows: "We behold a great Rock uplifted by some mighty power from the bosom of the ocean and raised above the level of the ad- jacent shore. Crowds line the beach to gaze upon the wonder. Soon we see an individual put off in a little shallop and, inviting the at- 38 THE STORY OF MY LIFE tention of the throng to the wonders he is about to effect, rows out to the rock. He strips off his outer garments, drags from his boat a little hammer, and begins pounding away upon the mighty mass of granite. He smites with great vigor, perspires profusely, and seems to be doing great execution. His friends wonder that the rock does not sink forthwith beneath his prodigious strokes. Anxiously they await his return; but on his quietly coming he has nothing to show but a broken hammer and bruised knuckles. Great disappointment is felt by his friends, but it is brief. Soon another and another, and Hume and Payne and Volney and Voltaire and Bolingbroke have gone on the same errand, and with like success. Their friends have in turn encouraged them by shout- ing, 'The Rock is surely sinking;' 'It is certainly cracked through;' 4It is on its last legs.' But there the Rock stands, with most provoking stability, rather benefited than injured by the pounding it has received, since by this some seaweeds and shells, which had attached them- selves to its sides, have been knocked off, and 39 THE STORY OF MY LIFE the real grain of the Rock made to appear more clearly." A pleasant year was spent on the Mapleton Circuit, though there was no great revival. Some of the most genuine and lovely Christians of all my acquaintance lived upon that charge. My salary for the year, including hay, oats, socks, mittens, and cash, amounted to $59.56. Marriage and Bennington Circuit. At the close of my second year as proba- tioner in the Conference I was received to mem- bership at its session in Marshall, ordained deacon, and appointed to Bennington Circuit, in Shiawassee County. It was a two-weeks' circuit, my appointments being for one Sunday at Owosso, Dewey's, and Castles, and for the other Sunday at Gale's, Hinkley's, and Kel- logg's, with occasional appointments through the week. Before reaching my circuit I rode to Hadley, Lapeer County, and was married to Miss Harriet Newell Russell, the scholar who the last day of my school in Otisco wrote the lines in regard to my call to the ministry. 40 THE STORY OF MY LIFE For more than fifty-one years she was my min- istering angel as well as my God-given com- panion, and the noble mother of my four chil- dren. On the 13th of February, 1898, she passed to her heavenly home, and her body sleeps in the Glenwood Cemetery, in Flint, Michigan. My children are all yet living: E. Roscoe, in Detroit; Louise M. Stowell, in Lowell, Mass.; Wilbur F., in Cheboygan, Mich.; and H. Ella Baldwin, in Flint. My two years on the Bennington Circuit were prosperous years, attended with a good revival spirit. In the summer of 1848 Rev. Manasseh Hickey and I rode up to the Saginaw Valley, where, with two or three other preach- ers, we held an Indian camp-meeting on the banks of the Cass River, near where the village of Bridgeport now stands. It was my first ex- perience in a meeting of Indians for worship, though in later years, when a presiding elder, I had an Indian village as one of the appoint- ments on my district. At this meeting there were probably six or seven hundred Indians, 41 THE STORY OF MY LIFE a majority of whom had professed conversion. In their worship they were very zealous and demonstrative. Their class-leaders and local preachers would set a good example to our people by their zeal and activities. In their worship they were reverent and orderly; no whispering or laughing or gazing about, either before, during, or after service. They listened attentively to the preaching, and would often show their appreciation by a loud Amen. In my first sermon to them I happened to select a text which appealed to their love of figurative language, viz. : "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles," etc.; and while I was describing the habits of the eagle fixing his eyes upon the bright sun, and soaring aloft far beyond the gaze of men, the audience uttered their shouts like the unoise of many waters." I had to stand awhile without speaking, as I could not be heard, when suddenly Brother Hickey, who sat directly behind me on the plat- form, uttered a roar such as I never heard before or since. Startled, I looked back and 42 THE STORY OF MY LIFE saw him with mouth wide open, arms and legs extended, shouting with all his might at every breath. The whole audience caught the spirit and let loose their voices in billows of praise the like of which I never expect to hear till I hear them on the other shore. One day during preaching service an old pagan chief, Ocquawazans, walked on to the ground with the bearing of a king. He was dressed fantastically, with hawks' bills and deer's hoofs hanging about him, with his bow and arrow at his back. Our presiding elder, George Bradley, was a large man; our mission- ary to the Indians, George Brown, was a small man. He knew the old chief, and went to him and invited him to come forward and be seated and hear the preaching. Ocquawazans stood motionless, not deigning to notice him, but finally said, with emphasis, "Go, tell your big men I am here." Brother Brown came back to the stand and reported to Brother Bradley, who went and invited him, and he came right forward in all his dignity and sat down and was a close listener all through the meeting. 43 THE STORY OF xMY LIFE It was the custom of the Indians to give a name to a white preacher who came to them, which name would indicate some peculiar thing about the preacher that would strike the Indian mind. Thus Brother Chatfield had a high, full forehead and somewhat stooping shoulders, and his Indian name meant "Projecting Heavens;" Brother Hickey's name very appro- priately meant "The Thunderer." When I closed my sermon and stepped down from the stand, their leaders came and gave me my name, which meant "Straight Up Through the Sky." At the close of the camp-meeting we held a council with the chiefs and leaders. It was held in one of their wigwams, all sitting on the ground: they on one side, and we on the other. First an Indian arose and spoke, then he came and shook hands with us, and returned to his seat. Then one of us would speak; then another Indian would follow in the same way as the first, until all in the wigwam had spoken. The last to speak was the old pagan chief, who said: "You white men have two 44 THE STORY OF MY LIFE ears and one heart, and what I say I want should go into both your ears and down into your heart. You fathers have boys, and you love your boys. When your boys go away from you, you do n't feel bad, for they take a paper and write on it, and send it to you, and it tells you where your boys are and how they are, and your hearts are glad. Now, we Indians have boys up in the woods, and we love our boys just as you do yours. But when they go away from us we are sad. Now I tell you what we want: We want you to send us a teacher, so when our boys go away they can write on a paper, and that will come to us and tell us where they are and how they are, and it will make our poor old hearts glad. Send us a teacher. I do n't say now that we will take his religion, but we will watch him." We promised him, and the Conference fulfilled our promise. On our way to the Conference of 1848 three of us rode horseback in company: Eli Westlake, Thomas Wakelin, and myself; each riding a large, fine horse (and I would not 45 THE STORY OF MY LIFE advise any Methodist preacher to own any other kind). We had to cross Grand River in a part of the State where sawmills had not yet been built. The bridge across the river was made of tamarack poles, built high to avoid the spring swellings of the river, and com- mencing far back from the shores to secure the utmost level to the bridge. The abutments were square pens built of poles, with larger poles for stringers, reaching from one pen to an- other, and the whole covered by the tamarack poles. Riding in single file across this bridge, my horse first, and Brother Wakelin's next, the poles under his horse's hind feet rolled, and he, struggling, fell to the bottom of the pen, some seven or eight feet deep, but fortunately it was the last pen before coming to the water. I rode on through the woods and found a man who would come with an ax and chop the horse out. No serious injury resulted to the horse or to any of us. But we were intensely interested, and our activities were varied while at work, to find ourselves in the presence of a swarm of yellow wasps whose home we had 46 THE STORY OF MY LIFE thoughtlessly broken up, and they seemed de- lighted in impressing their inverted blessings on us. In those years the road from Flint to Sagi- naw led through wilderness and swamps much of the way. Large logs would be cut and laid across the swamps to form the roadbeds. Sometimes they would be covered by earth, which would make quite a passable road; but if left bare, they were terrors to the traveler. They were called "corduroys." One of those logways on the Saginaw road was said to be six miles long, of large logs, and uncovered. At the close of the Conference that fall the bishop was re-ading out the appointments, which was the last item of Conference business. In those days no preacher was supposed to know where he was to go till his name was read off by the bishop. My presiding elder chanced to sit directly in front of me, and he turned and whispered, uYou are going to Saginaw Mis- sion." I answered in whisper, "I can not move my wife over that six-mile corduroy." He started to the bishop's chair and whispered to 47 THE STORY OF MY LIFE him. I saw him take his pen and write, and then he read on, and soon read, "Saginaw Mis- sion, Andrew Bell; Genesee Circuit, Seth Reed." I do not know whether my eldest daughter ever knew how she helped the bishop in making his appointments that fall. Genesee, Mt. Clemens, and Pontiac. Genesee was a large circuit, nearly in the middle of which was Flint as a station, with M. B. Camburn, a single man, as the preacher; and with me on the circuit was Orrin Whit- more, a single man, as junior preacher. Dur- ing the year Brother Whitmore was married to Miss Adams, and Brother Camburn to Miss Clark, both ladies members of our Church on my circuit A blessed revival was enjoyed that year, especially at Flushing, where persons were con- verted who became prominent workers in the cause, some of whom continue to this day. At Flushing I held the sad funeral services of our talented, consecrated missionary to the Indians, Rev. Lovell Harris. The band of which he 48 THE STORY OF MY LIFE had charge, and with whom he died, was about sixteen miles below Flushing, on the banks of the Flint River. Almost the entire band came up with his body to the funeral, and a more weeping and stricken congregation I never saw. When the body was lowered in the grave they fell upon their knees, weeping aloud and pray- ing, "O Great Father in heaven, please send us another missionary just like Brother Har- ris!" My next appointment was to Mt. Clemens, which, though much smaller than any I had yet served, was considered a promotion, because it was called a station. We arrived at the place on Saturday, and finding no provision for re- ceiving us, we went to the hotel. Early the next week my wife was taken suddenly and seriously ill with hemorrhage of the stomach, and could not be moved from the hotel for some days, and when we did move her, she still being very sick, our hotel-bill was pre- sented. Not having a dollar in the world to pay on the bill or on anything else, with my wife in such condition, with two little children 49 THE STORY OF MY LIFE on my hands, and among entire strangers, I had, I think, what people call "the blues." I finally stated my circumstances to a few of my people, and they rallied to my help. It was a year of anxiety to us, as Mrs. Reed's health continued poor for a long time. Yet it was a year of material prosperity to the society, principally from one circumstance. Our house of worship was an old, unattractive building at the edge of the village. The Presbyterians had a few years before built and furnished a good church in a central part of the town. But their people had failed to pay their minister his salary, so the church had been locked for more than a year, till finally it went into the hands of the sheriff for public sale. On the morning of the day of the sale the president of their board of trustees, Judge Thurston, came to our house and told me that their people wished we would buy their property at private sale. I asked him their price, and he said, "We will sell the church and all the furniture for just what we owe our pastor, viz. : $450." Said I: "We will take it. Go, tell the sheriff 50 THE STORY OF MY LIFE the sale is off." And he hustled to tell him, and I hustled to tell my trustees that the sale was on — on me. Soon as possible the trustees met and assumed the contract I had made. Mr. John Stevens, a business man and a friend of our Church, though not a member, advanced what money we needed, and the price was paid and the deed taken before many of the people knew what was going on. We moved into the church and held service there the next Sabbath. Soon we sold our old church to the Catholics for $500, and the margin easily paid our mov- ing-expenses, and we found ourselves well es- tablished. Our people are worshiping on that spot to-day, and there is probably no better church-site in the city. Some years ago they moved off the building which they purchased, and built a beautiful brick structure in its place. In the fall of 1850 I was appointed to Pontiac. I found the membership in good con- dition; revival interests began early and con- tinued through the year. In some of the neigh- borhoods adjoining the city there were blessed revivals. During the year a public donation 5i THE STORY OF MY LIFE was given to us, which excelled in its gifts any such party ever made to us during my ministry. It was expected by myself and the people that I should be returned for the second year, but the authorities decided otherwise, and I was sent to Ypsilanti. Ypsilanti and Monroe. I think the most genuine and far-reaching revival that has ever occurred under my minis- try was realized at Ypsilanti. From it about sixty were received to membership in the Church, a large proportion of them being young persons from about sixteen to thirty years of age. Of the number several became prominent workers and ministers. John W. Crippen was a useful member of Detroit Con- ference until his death, October 16, 1909, and Wm. H. Shier, D. D., is still an honorable and useful member. The religious interest seemed to grow through the two years. The large auditorium was usually filled on Sundays, but there was no smaller room for religious and social work. So 52 THE STORY OF MY LIFE during the second year additional rooms were built at the rear of the church, which met the great need. A very important event in the history of Ypsilanti occurred while I was there, in the building of the first normal school in the State. It was dedicated on the fifth of October, 1852, the Hon. John D. Pierce, Michigan's first su- perintendent of public instruction, delivering the address, the writer of these lines making the dedicatory prayer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherman conducting the dedicatory services. In the afternoon Judge Ross Wilkins, of Detroit, gave a masterly ad- dress. At that time the Michigan State Teach- ers' Association was organized, which was con- tinued to the present day and has grown to such proportions and has accomplished such work as to entitle it to the praise of all edu- cators of the State. I had so recently been a school-teacher myself that they easily counted me in. So I assisted in organizing the associ- ation. At the celebration fifty years after the dedication of the normal I responded to a re- 53 THE STORY OF MY LIFE quest and made the opening prayer on that oc- casion. At the Monroe church I found a very high pulpit, reached by winding stairs, between the two front doors; and standing in front of the pulpit, and very near to it, was a large stove with the pipes running around the room — the only method of warming the house. My first day's experience resulted in a sickness which lasted for weeks. But it was not lost time to the charge, for my people rallied with great promptness and unanimity, and by the time I had recovered they had removed the old stove and pipes, and placed a furnace in the base- ment; had taken down the pulpit, and built an appropriate one in the rear of the room; had taken out and reversed all the pews; had re- moved entirely the old high galleries built near the ceiling, and in various ways improved the house, so it was a pleasant place of worship. The people were kind and loyal; but reverses came to the place, which affected the Churches seriously. A line of steamboats from Buffalo to the Upper Lakes, which had for many years 54 i THE STORY OF MY LIFE touched at Monroe, was discontinued at that place, and consequently a branch of the Michi- gan Southern Railroad, which had been built to the wharf connecting with the boats, was taken up. The result was an immense hegira of families from Monroe to other parts. Added to this, during my second year a wave of cholera swept through the town, which was no respecter of persons. Among those I was called to bury were several of my most useful people. The panic in the town was great, and sometimes there would be scarcely enough people present at a funeral to bury the dead. Once the undertaker had to go out and solicit help. By removals and death we lost from our Church during my term sixty-four members, and gained less than half that number. But though cast down, our people were not for- saken, and their seasons of worship were sea- sons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. From that small society and Sunday- school several persons have gone out to do good service in the great field. Among the boys in the Sunday-school was one of marked 55 THE STORY OF MY LIFE peculiarity, George A. Custer, who afterward became noted in the United States Army. While his deportment in church or Sunday- school would be so nearly respectful that it could not well be reproved, yet it was so sly and concealed that he wrould plan fun for a half dozen other boys older and larger than he to execute, while he would look sober as a deacon. Sometimes in prayer-meeting we could hear, but could not see, small birdshot snapped from the thumb-nails of the boys, and rebounding over the uncarpeted floor, while not a smile would appear on the face of any of them. We knew who was the promoter of such schemes, for George was easily their leader. Ann Arbor and Port Huron. In 1855 I was appointed to the Ann Arbor Church. My embarrassment almost overcame me in being placed in such a responsible posi- tion, while my privileges of education had been so meager. But as the responsibility of my appointment was not my own, I resolved not 56 THE STORY OF MY LIFE to be responsible for a failure; so I would do my very best. Many of the university students were in my congregation, and some of the lead- ing professors, such as Alexander Winchell and E. O. Haven, afterward bishop, from whose friendship I received valuable aid. I recollect asking Professor Winchell to ride with me out to Northfield one day and address a gathering of district schools; he did so in a very happy manner, and while returning he told me that was the first public address he had ever given. It was certainly the beginning of very popular public addresses and lectures. A good revival spirit prevailed in the Church, also a zeal for material development. A new parsonage was built the first year, and the church was enlarged the second year. During this term my wife suffered a protracted and severe sickness, so severe that the neighbors would ask, uIs she yet living ?" And while she was thus apparently at death's door, our young- est child was born and the mother recovered, to be a blessing to her family and to others for many years. 57 THE STORY OF MY LIFE At the Conference held in Port Huron in 1857 a gracious revival began during its ses- sion and continued with great power through the Conference and for months into the year. The change of ministers and my moving and settling did not seem to dissipate the revival spirit. During eight months of the first year the Church doubled its membership. During the second year the people bought a lot and built a parsonage. When it was completed, and before we moved in, a banquet was held one afternoon and evening. A carriage came for us towards evening, and we were driven to the new house and were entertained in the dining-room and kitchen till after supper was passed, when we went into the other rooms and found all our household goods there and beds set up for the family to occupy for the night. Busily had the crowd worked while some of them had beguiled us in ignorance of what the rest were doing. Thus unexpectedly did we spend our first night in the new par- sonage, and the people wrere all the while being drawn nearer to us by their kindness. In a 58 THE STORY OF MY LIFE very short time they put our goods in place, and we commenced a short but happy residence there. I taught a large Bible-class in my church on week-day evenings. One dark Saturday evening our doorbell was rung as I was in my study in the chamber. Our large Scotch girl opened the door and saw the faces of a crowd of people upon the veranda, and was fright- ened, and, running upstairs, called to me, and went and hid. I went down, and my Bible-class filed into the parlor to its filling. After a few pleasant remarks they placed in Mrs. Reed's hand a well-filled purse, and in mine a watch, which is in my pocket now, which has always looked to me beautiful, and which has faith- fully ticked off my hours and minutes from that evening to this. God bless the people whose kindness makes their minister happy! — and He does. In many places where the population is miscellaneous, coming together from all quar- ters of the globe, and before facilities for wor- ship are established, there is apt to be more or 59 THE STORY OF MY LIFE less lawlessness in religious worship, and the leaders thereof have a great responsibility in controlling the ungodly elements. Sometimes I was at my wits' end to thwart the plans of some clique that I could discover. One method was to put the meeting in charge of some one else for the time being, and go among the people and get into a pleasant conversation with one of the evil designers and manage to learn either his name or the name of some other one of his company. I would then let him see me take out my tablet and write, or appear to write. He would catch the idea, and soon they would be passing the whisper along and would take their hats and leave. At one neighborhood the preaching was in a school- house; the desk was between the two front doors, and a long bench ran across the room at the rear. This bench was usually occupied by a number of full-grown young men and women who during service would conduct them- selves lawlessly. I spoke to them occasionally in the best manner of which I was capable, but to no effect. One morning after preaching I 60 THE STORY OF MY LIFE requested the audience to resume their seats after the benediction. They did so, and looked and listened intently. I then rehearsed the situation and alluded to the sorrow which had been expressed to me by the neighbors and par- ents of these young people. I then said: "You have probably noticed that for two or three Sabbaths I have not alluded to their conduct, though it has been no better. On the north part of my circuit I was preaching one evening, and there was a young man who acted very much as these young people have acted, only he was alone in his actions. Though he dis- turbed me, yet I did not rebuke him, as no one seemed to be affected by him. After the service some of the men said to me they were glad I did not reprove the young man, for he is an idiot. I have since conversed with some of the men of this community, and it is their opinion that none of these young people are idiots. If the neighbors are mistaken, the future conduct of the young people will show it." I heard no more from these young people till after some years, when a gentleman called on me and 61 THE STORY OF MY LIFE stated that he was one of the young people that I reproved, and though the reproof was sharp, yet it was deserved, and he thanked me for it and said he was ashamed of his conduct. Yesterday, October 6, 19 13, I was in De- troit with quite a number of our ministers, among whom was Brother J. B. Oliver, one of our retired ministers, who, on seeing me, remarked to the company, "I have been think- ing about Brother Reed this morning, and the thing which suggested his name to me at this time was my discovering a hole in my stock- ing." That curious remark brought a demand from several of the brethren for an explana- tion, when Brother Oliver said: "Fifty-five years ago a camp-meeting was held in the woods near Port Huron. One evening, while the congregation was seated, three young ladies were seen standing upon a seat. Brother Reed, who had charge of the meeting that evening, requested them to be seated. They paid no attention. Soon he requested again, with in- creased emphasis ; but no move. Then, point- ing his finger towards them, while all the people 62 THE STORY OF MY LIFE looked that way, he said, uIf those three young ladies standing on a bench near that tree should know that there was a hole in any one of their stockings they would all go down in their seats at once." "And they wrent down at once," said Brother Oliver. Woodward and Lafayette. At the first meeting of the Official Board of Woodward Avenue after Conference, without consulting me, my salary was fixed at $1,000, being $200 more than they had ever paid, and that amount more than any Methodist preacher in Michigan was then receiving. It indicated the liberality which has ever characterized that people. Noble members were in that Church : Owen, Preston, Fenton, Fowler, Merrick, Sta- ples, Taft, Palmer, and others. An interesting circumstance occurred during my second year here. Among the members of the Church was James Burns, a leading mer- chant. His daughter Eliza, a most beautiful and educated young lady, was always with the family in their pews on Sunday, but was not a 63 THE STORY OF MY LIFE Christian; not a member of the Sunday-school. She was unhappy, as she afterward said, living with no object in life, just floating on the cur- rent of time. She longed for a better life, but knew not how to come into it. She finally made a resolve that she would do the first good thing that should come to her mind — a good resolve for any one to make. It was not long before the good thing appeared: Looking out the win- dow upon Congress Street one day, she saw some German boys playing, and the thought arose in her mind, Do they attend a Sunday- school? She immediately went out and asked a boy (she could converse in German) if he went to a Sunday-school, and he said he did not. "Will you go to a Sunday-school if I will be your teacher?" she asked; and he said he would. Then said she, "Meet me next Sunday afternoon at two o'clock at a certain street cor- ner." Then she went to other boys, and to others, with the same proposition. None of her friends knew what she was doing until the next Sunday afternoon, just after the large school was opened, we were all surprised by 64 THE STORY OF MY LIFE seeing Eliza Burns walk in, followed by seven- teen of those little waifs. We cleared a central place for her in the large room, and she sat down and began her work. I shall never for- get the blush upon her beautiful face as, with head bowed over her Testament, she began reading and teaching it to those boys. It was not long before she became a Christian, and later, when Dr. J. M. Buckley was pastor of that Church, she became his wife. On the subject of slavery several in that Church had been quite conservative, but when the War of the Rebellion broke out they were ready to prove their loyalty as well as declare it. Still there was a strong element in the city who at first announced their sympathies with the South and criticised our Government for defending the Union. When Fort Sumter was attacked, President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers to go South and put down the rebellion. Next morning the Detroit Free Press published editorially: "The President has called for a volunteer force to go South and put down the rebellion; we hope another volun- 65 THE STORY OF MY LIFE teer force will be raised to follow them, and that there will be a lire in the rear, and that such men as Hogarth and Ketchell and Reed will be placed where they will receive the first fire." The three men named were pastors of the Presbyterian, Congregational, and Metho- dist Churches. Frequently during the forepart of the war, when news of a reverse to our army would come, the Free Press would pour out its vituperations against the Government. One day, when another such attack appeared, as the story was told, a Mr. Jackson, who was a prominent manufacturer in Detroit, and who belonged to the same political party with the Free Press, but who was a loyal Democrat, said to one of his men, uGo and tell the editor that I have two hundred men in my employ, and if I see any more such slurs upon the Gov- ernment and army as I have seen of late in his paper, I shall tell my men to go down and put the Detroit Free Press office in Detroit River, and that my men always obey me." It was observable after that that a change of heart 66 THE STORY OF MY LIFE or something else had taken place in the Free Press. Over forty years ago Hon. Thomas W. Palmer, of Detroit, gave, in memory of his mother, five thousand dollars to the Superan- nuated Preachers' Aid Society of Detroit Con- ference, with the stipulation that when any of the three ministers: E. H. Pilcher, Samuel Clements, and Seth Reed, whom he considered special friends of his mother's, should be placed upon the retired list, he should receive one- third of the annual interest of the above sum during the remainder of his life, and after his death his dividends should go into the general fund of the society. I am now the only re- maining one of the three, and annually my heart beats with gratitude to that generous friend. In the fall of 1861 I was appointed to the Lafayette Avenue Charge, which was young and as yet weak. It has since developed into the Tabernacle Church. While here William, afterward Bishop, Taylor, who was a kind of 67 THE STORY OF MY LIFE self-appointed world's evangelist, would occa- sionally call and preach and talk to us while crossing the country. His conversations were interesting, as he had just returned from Africa. One day a telegram was handed to him; he read it and casually remarked, "It is from my wife, — guess I must send her some money." I asked him where she was and how long since he had seen her. He said she was in California, and it had been about eight years since he saw her. Then I remarked, "I sup- pose you are on your way there now." "Oh, no," said he, "I must go to South America first." At family worship that same morning he commenced his prayer by thanking the Lord for voices of friends around us: "It is the sweetest music we hear; and for the light of the sun that comes into our eyes and never hurts them; and we thank Thee for the air which we breathe ; we thank Thee Thou didst make it just as Thou didst. If Thou hadst put the oxygen and nitrogen together in little differ- ent proportions, it would have blown us all to pieces." On two different occasions we enter- 68 THE STORY OF MY LIFE tained Peter Cartwright over night, and listened to his recital of some of the experiences re- corded in his autobiography. We had calls also from Alfred Bronson, the early pioneer of the West, and William Nast, the scholar, the com- mentator, and first German convert in America. With all his learning he was simple as a child. One morning after the opening of the General Conference in Philadelphia in 1864 Dr. Nast rose to correct an error which appeared in his speech in the Daily Advocate of the previous day. After making the correction he said, "Sometimes I say what I do not mean to say, and sometimes I do not say what I mean to say, but I never said what I did not say." The Conference laughed, and he blushed. At Lafayette Avenue a public donation was held for us in the auditorium-room of the old First Church. Among those present were two aged men: Father Mason, an Irish local preacher; and General Lewis Cass, who was a near neighbor of ours. Mr. Cass was quite infirm as well as aged. With his crutch he made his way within the chancel rail, and was 69 THE STORY OF MY LIFE seated in an easy-chair. He remarked to Father Mason, "When you are as old as I am I hope you will be smarter than I am." "Indade," said Father Mason, "and when you are as old as I am I hope you will be as smart as I am." This led to a comparison of their ages, when it appeared that General Cass was nearly ten years younger than the other. Ypsilanti, Second Term. In 1862 I was appointed to Ypsilanti for the second time. During the twelve years since my first pastorate marked changes had taken place in the congregation and perhaps in my- self. Though the congregation had increased greatly, yet the revival spirit was not as domi- nant as formerly. The people thought I had backslidden, and I was sure they had. Several circumstances occurred while there which served to interrupt the regular course of pas- toral labor; among the first was that two thieves one night entered our house and stole, besides other things, an overcoat and dress- coat from rne, and an overcoat and dress-coat 7° THE STORY OF MY LIFE from my son, nearly all being new coats; and just before we moved here from Detroit an overcoat of mine was stolen from the hall in the parsonage there. In regard to the thieves1 visit our friends in Ypsilanti made us a good donation visit, which enabled me and my son to put on coats again. The War of the Rebellion continued in full force and was, of course, the all-absorbing topic in the Nation. The Christian Commission was assuming organic form as an agency of im- mense usefulness. A telegram came from the State commission asking me if I would go into that work for a few weeks in the Army of the Cumberland. I laid the matter before my Offi- cial Board, and they said, "Go, and we will take care of things here." I first went to Nash- ville, Tennessee, where I spent some weeks. Our army had just taken the city. My first experience in the work was late in the evening. After entering the city I went into a large livery barn which was used for a hospital, and which was filled with long rows of cots, each bearing a sick or wounded soldier. A few candles gave 7i THE STORY OF MY LIFE a weird, dim light, and the groans of the wounded broke the oppressive silence. I was not anticipating the shock which the scene pro- duced upon me, for I had to retreat immedi- ately and seek quiet before I could do anything for the suffering men. The work of the com- mission consisted in caring for the disabled sol- diers in every possible way. No help was re- alized from the citizens of Nashville, who were very bitter in their prejudices. I was told that when our forces entered the city, a lady occupy- ing a beautiful residence near the sidewalk spit upon one of our men as he was passing, and the officer in charge saw the act and said, "Madam, I will occupy your house as a hospital in a few hours/' and he did so. President Lincoln, as commander-in-chief of the United States Army, had issued an order that the slaves belonging to owners engaged in the rebellion, who should come within our lines, should not be returned to their masters. I saw many such slaves coming within our lines. Whenever a few would meet, even though strangers to each other, they would go down 72 THE STORY OF MY LIFE on their knees and hold a prayer-meeting, it mattered not where they were. The burden of their worship, uttered with mighty voice and clapping of hands, was, "Bress de Laud and Massa Linkum! Bress de Laud and Massa Linkum!" Not as jubilant was the heart of Mr. Lincoln in those days. One of our Bishops told me that during one of those dark periods in the war of the Rebel- lion he had occasion to call on Mr. Lincoln on business; and as soon as the item of business was dismissed he opened his heart to the Bishop and told him of the dark clouds that seemed to threaten the existence of the Nation as never before. He poured out to him the anguish of his heart, burdened as no human heart in the Nation was burdened. He shook and wept and said, "Bishop, won't you pray with me?" They knelt, and while the Bishop prayed, Mr. Lin- coln groaned and sobbed, and again and again ejaculated, "Amen." Wherever a number of these freed slaves could be gathered, some of those in the Christian Commission service would give a few hours in 73 THE STORY OF MY LIFE teaching them. I stepped into a church one day and found over a hundred of those escaped slaves being there taught. I never saw more anxiety manifested to learn than I saw there. Among them I think there were not a dozen who were really black. I spoke with one fine- looking middle-aged woman, who presented almost no appearance of color, who sat with some children of more color, all trying to learn to read in the plainest reading. She seemed embarrassed and said: "I presume, sir, you are surprised to see a person of my age here with these children learning to read. But it is the privilege I have longed for all my life, and now for the first time it has come to me, and I must improve it" I heartily approved her course and passed on as the tears filled her eyes. A large, unfinished hotel, called the Zolli- coffer House, stood in the city, and our army used it as a barracks. One night part of a cap- tured regiment of Confederates was brought into the city and placed in the barracks; they ,74 THE STORY OF MY LIFE occupied all the four floors. Early in the morn- ing those on the fourth floor were carousing and jumping, when the floor broke, and men, brick, and timber came down on to the third floor; that broke, and more men, brick, and timber came down on to the second floor; that broke, and still more men, brick, and timber came down on to the first floor. Such a mass, I think, was never seen before nor since. Be- ing near the building, I hastened with citizens and soldiers to help dig out the killed and wounded, of which there were about one hun- dred. While I was digging with all my might at a certain place, from which most pitiful groanings came, I soon reached a man wounded and bleeding, and asked him who he was. "Oh," said he, "I am a Methodist preacher, and I wish this thing was ended." "Well," said I, "I am a Methodist preacher, and I, too, wish this thing was ended." He asked me if I could help him to a handkerchief, and I gave him mine from my pocket; and he wiped the tears and blood from his face, and I turned to 75 THE STORY OF MY LIFE help others. The ladies of Nashville came with their cordials to comfort their Confeder- ate friends. After the Battle of Chickamauga I was sent to Stevenson, a field hospital in the northeast corner of Alabama, to help care for the wounded from that battlefield. The Confed- erates still held possession of the railroad and the river, so our men had to be brought over the rocks and mountains some fifty miles in ambulances and wagons. As the poor fellows would describe their sufferings to me while coming over, they must have been awful. Providence Conference. My second year in Ypsilanti was somewhat broken by my absence at General Conference in Philadelphia. But while at that Conference I made arrangements for a transfer to the Providence Conference. This was done on ac- count of my wife's health, which was failing seriously, and physicians advised a radical change of location. On my journey to the General Conference 76 THE STORY OF MY LIFE I passed the cemetery in which my father was buried forty years before. It was my first and last visit to this lonely place on the Susque- hanna. I had searched for the grave a long time without finding it, and was about to leave, sad and disappointed, when a man approached me and, upon learning what I was looking for, said, "I can show you the grave, for it was I, with my team, that brought your father's body from his home in Hartwick to this place for burial forty years ago." On my return from General Conference I surrendered my charge, we packed our belong- ings, and moved to the island of Martha's Vineyard in the Atlantic Ocean, twenty-five miles from the mainland, where I had charge of our Church in Edgartown. Faber's first sentence in his book, "The Creator and the Creature," is, "A man is ever after a different man for having seen the ocean." And so the privilege to us of spending a year and a half surrounded by the great ocean-waves, with all her world of mysteries, was very great. And with the wealth of ocean we found also wealth 77 THE STORY OF MY LIFE of character and Christian experience among the island people. Our seasons of worship left with us pleasant memories to this day. And there, too, I became acquainted with and mem- ber of the Martha's Vineyard Camp-meeting, which has been called the Mother of New Eng- land Camp-meetings; and the memory of those ministers I heard preach there will stay with me till I meet them again. Little did I think, when I first attended that meeting in i860 and occupied a little tent, with my straw-bed upon the ground, and within a few feet of the first cottage ever built upon the ground, a little, one-room cottage built of rough boards by old Dr. Frederick Upham, that in my day Martha's Vineyard Camp-ground would come to be the great beautiful Cottage City that it is, with its influence reaching across our conti- nent. In the spring of 1866 I was appointed to the Mathewson Street Church, Providence, Rhode Island. The pastor who preceded me there, Dr. J. H. McCarty, was transferred to the Detroit Conference and appointed to a 78 THE STORY OF MY LIFE Church which I had served, thus forming friendly relations with Churches at a distance from each other, a thing which the Methodist itinerant system often does. In this case the relation is continued by the pastorate of Dr. Edward S. Ninde in Mathewson Street Church, who formerly belonged to Detroit Conference. When E. S. Ninde came into our Confer- ence from his school he requested to be sent to the most rural point in the Conference. In describing to the cabinet one point on my dis- trict, the bishop and elders said, "That is the place for Eddie Ninde." And he was sent to Bay Port. He went as cheerfully as though it was the first appointment in the Conference. His sister Mary, now Mrs. Gamewell, in China, went with him to make him a home. It was not long before the hearts of those rural people were so bound to them they almost thought them to be two angels. At the close of the year I wanted to appoint him to a city charge on my district, but he said, if he stayed on the district at all, he wanted to spend an- other year with these people. 79 THE STORY OF MY LIFE I have regarded my residence of four years in New England as one of the privileges of my life. It gave me a higher estimate of those institutions, social, intellectual, and religious, that have been such mighty factors in the mold- ing of our Nation. I regret exceedingly that I did not know, while residing in Providence, that it had also been the residence of one of my direct ances- tors, Captain John Reed. He was an officer in Oliver Cromwell's Army, and in 1660 came to America and settled in Providence, married there, and in after years moved to Norwalk, Connecticut. He brought with him his sword, which was kept in the Reed family for five gen- erations. My residence in Providence was very pleas- ant. I was transferred back to Detroit Con- ference in the spring of 1868, but as three or four months intervened before the session of my Conference, the Temperance Committee of Rhode Island engaged me to spend the interval in the interests of that cause in that State. I selected as my special field the securing of sig- 80 THE STORY OF MY LIFE natures of young people to the Total Absti- nence Pledge. The towns and schools in Rhode Island are so contiguous that I could reach and address several gatherings in a day. The re- sult was that I obtained over seven thousand signatures to the pledge. They would be en- tered upon a large card, framed, and hung in their schoolroom. The signers in each neigh- borhood would organize into a society and hold meetings once a month. I have been told that the interest created by that movement continued in that State for years, and I sometimes wish I had continued that work for the remainder of my life. Home Again in Detroit Conference. In the fall of 1868 I was appointed finan- cial agent of Albion College for the Detroit Conference, and I worked in co-operation with Rev. M. A. Daugherty for the Michigan Con- ference. We raised a large amount to apply on a newly-erected college building, and also several thousands for the endowment fund. So I am thankful that even a little of my life- 81 THE STORY OF MY LIFE work has gone to build up that institution, which wields such a splendid influence to-day. A new experience in the itinerancy of Meth- odism came to me during the next four years, in which I was presiding elder of Romeo Dis- trict, and also in the succeeding four years as presiding elder of the Ann Arbor District. This appointment was a great favor to me, as it enabled me to keep my children in the uni- versity, which they had already entered. In the fall of 1874 the Detroit and Michi- gan Conferences each appointed a committee to act as one for selecting and obtaining a site for a Michigan State Camp-ground. The rail- roads of the State conveyed the committee free of expense to several places, and to some places twice, for the purpose of making their exami- nations. After mature deliberations the com- mittee accepted the proposition made by the Grand Rapids and Indiana Road and the peo- ple of Petoskey, to locate in the vicinity of that place. Their offer was to donate the land (about three hundred acres), one thousand dollars in money to be expended upon the land, 82 THE STORY OF MY LIFE and to build their railroad from Petoskey down to the land. We were to obligate ourselves to hold a camp-meeting annually for fifteen years, and to have erected a certain number of cot- tages each year for at least ten years. The conditions on both sides wrere accepted. The committee incorporated the "Michigan Camp- ground Association" under the laws of the State, organized a board of trustees, and adopted a constitution and by-laws, and I was elected the secretary, which office I held for thirteen years. At one of the first meetings the following record was made: "On motion of S. Reed, the name of the place shall be called Bay View." After a few years it was learned that the natural attraction of the place would draw families to it from great distances, and hold them there through the summer season, and that, therefore, some further privileges should be provided than simply what the camp-meeting furnished. It was resolved to inaugurate privi- leges along educational lines; hence various schools and lecture-courses were opened. It was soon learned that these various side-inter- 83 THE STORY OF MY LIFE ests should have a managing head, and after much deliberation it was decided that John M. Hall should take charge. He undertook the work with rigor, and under his management this department of Bay View has grown to vast proportions. The Bay View Magazine, which he originated and publishes, has readers all over the United States, while during these thirty years the educational work has proved very useful and attractive. In 1877 I was appointed to Saginaw City, where I passed two pleasant years. No great revival occurred, but a good parsonage was built and paid for which added greatly to the strength of the charge. From there I was appointed to the city of Corunna. The society here had no place for social work and worship save the audience- room. We built an addition to the church, of some smaller rooms which met this great need. During my second year there the Owosso Charge, which for some years had seemed to be declining, was added to Corunna as an after- noon appointment. The presiding elder told 84 THE STORY OF MY LIFE the Owosso people that this would be their per- manent relation. But at the close of the year my mind was convinced that Methodism could never be built up in that town under that ar- rangement; so I went to the cabinet and re- quested that Owosso be restored to the list of appointments, that no missionary money be given to help support it (as had been done for some years), and that I be appointed to the charge. I was appointed. I moved my family on to the charge, and people said they did not know what to do with us. I told them if they would work with me to the best of their ability, I would make no complaint. They promised and fulfilled. God blessed our work from first to last. From 1883 to 1893 I spent four years as presiding elder on the Flint District and six years on the Saginaw District. During all my eighteen years in that relation I formed very strong friendships with the preachers and the people. I also learned how this relation has, for nearly a century and a half, withstood the demands of different sections of the Church 85 THE STORY OF MY LIFE for its modification or abolishment. This su- perintendency is imbedded in the very vital principles of Methodist economy. Rev. Luther Lee, whose name was promi- nent in American Methodism in the last cen- tury, spent the closing years of his life in Flint. In 1885 his wife passed to her eternal home. Rev. I. N. Elwood was their pastor in Flint, and I the presiding elder. We learned that Dr. Lee had not means enough in this world to defray the expenses of his wife's funeral, whereupon we wrote the fact to a few of our friends, and there came promptly to our hands money enough for the funeral expenses, with a balance sufficient to purchase a lot in Glenwood Cemetery, this city, which we did, and had it deeded to the Detroit Corporate Conference. It is a beautiful lot, beautifully located. There rest in it at the present time the remains of Mrs. Lee, Dr. Lee, I. N. Elwood, Mrs. Seth Reed, and a child of Rev. Joseph Frazer. At the close of our Conference a few years ago, while waiting for the bishop to come in and 86 THE STORY OF MY LIFE read our appointments, I arose and stated that the grave of Dr. Luther Lee remained un- marked, and that soon the wear of time would obliterate it from human sight and human memory. In a very few minutes money was raised to place a beautiful stone at its head, which tells the world whose body sleeps there. Retired Relation. At the Conference of 1893 I was entered upon the retired list. Under God's blessing my health for most of the time since has been good. My ears and eyes are serving me well, never having needed glasses for reading or anything else. I have been able to do consider- able work in assisting Churches and pastors, work which I love to do, and expect to love till I draw my last breath. I believe my inter- est in the Church and her work has not declined with my increasing years. For about two years I supplied our charge in Gaylord, during which a new and good church was built. I have supplied other 87 THE STORY OF MY LIFE charges for shorter periods of time, and have assisted often in quarterly meetings and in va- rious special occasions. On the 13th of September, 1899, there was joined with my life the life of Miss Henrietta Andrew to cheer me through the remainder of my journey. And this she does both by her natural endowments and by the graces of the Spirit. We selected Flint as our future place of residence. We are happy in the fellowship of the people of the Court Street Church and their talented, consecrated minister, Dr. A. R. Johns, with whom we worship. I have a daily reminder of the kindness of the Garland Street Church people in the staff on which, Jacob-like, I lean. Among our happiest days and richest privi- leges we regard the summers spent at Lake Orion, where for nine consecutive years, begin- ning in 1900, the Orion Bible Conference was held. Under the management of such men as Rev. P. V. Jenness, Rev. J. M. Barkley, A. L. Parker, Esq., Major J. H. Cole, and others 88 THE STORY OF MY LIFE like them, together with the attractions and facilities of the place, it is not surprising that the Conference should even in so short a tim£ have gained such a wide and blessed influence. Each year men of international fame appeared upon its platform: J. Campbell White, G. Campbell Morgan, W. C. Pearce, George Elli- ott, and many others. It is a matter of regret by many good people that the place was allowed to fall under influences of another kind. When the project of an Old People's Home for Detroit Conference was started, Mrs. Reed and myself entered into it with much interest. The enterprise was launched and a Home was opened in Chelsea in 1906, Mr. and Mrs. F. P. Glazier and Mrs. Emily Glazier, his mother, giving some fifteen acres of land and $10,000 in cash toward it. We not having money to give, gave ourselves, and for a year and a half, during which time the building was erected, equipped, and a family of eighteen enrolled, took charge of it. We doubtless should have remained but for the breakdown that threat- ened Mrs. Reed's health. The Home has had 89 THE STORY OF MY LIFE a remarkable growth in strength and favor among the people. Its rooms are now filled with over thirty members, and plans for en- largement must soon be considered. Among the faithful friends and trustees none has been more successful in its upbuilding than Dr. J. E. Jacklin, of Detroit. The Detroit Conference was organized in 1856, with myself as its secretary, in which office I was continued four years. Of the four- teen brethren who have been its secretaries since then, eight are now on the other shore. The Conference was incorporated under the laws of the State in 1876, and I have been the secretary of the corporation for thirty-six years. This body of ministers is very dear to my heart. I think of no one of them but as my friend. It is my only earthly brotherhood, and I want no other. The favors and kindnesses extended to me by my brethren I can not number, much less repay. My prayer is that, as they come to the slope of the hill, similar attentions and considerations may be shown them. To participate in the Centennial Anniver- 90 THE STORY OF MY LIFE sary of Michigan Methodism, which was held in Central Church, Detroit, under the skillful management of its then pastor, Dr. F. D. Leete, was a sweet joy to me. This occasion, combined with the fifty-fifth session of our An- nual Conference, made a rich feast. The part assigned me in the anniversary was the sermon Sunday morning, in which were reviewed the "Gains and Losses of Fifty Years." Dr. J. M. Buckley, who shared largely in the celebration, asked me for the manuscript for publication in the Christian Advocate, and on being told that I had none, he said, "I will give you just thirty days to prepare one." I promised him and did it. About the holiday season, what was- my surprise on opening a large package that came to my door, to learn that some of the brethren nearer home had secured its publica- tion in pamphlet form for general distribution ! In the same fall my brethren sent me as their representative to the Centennial Celebra- tion of the Genesee Conference, held in Roch- ester, New York. The Territory of Michigan was a part of the original Genesee Conference. 9i THE STORY OF MY LIFE It was within the bounds of this Conference that I began my religious life, and the memories recalled and the friendships formed at the cele- bration are precious. I was pleased to meet here my friend and former pastor in Flint, Rev. Clarence E. Allen, D. D., now pastor of Richmond Avenue Church, Buffalo, New York, and popular as ever. The fact of my being something of an an- tiquity was borne in upon me here. Sunday morning, when the families and their guests were at church, the maids of the households had their time for visiting over the telephone. One conversation between two Irish girls ran thus: "Have you seen that man among the ministers that is so tall, walks so straight, and has a long, white beard?" "Yes," said the other. "Well, do you know who he is?" " Oh, yes; that's Moses. I was never acquainted with Moses, but I Ve heard a great deal about him, and I Ve seen his picture, and I 'm sure that 's Moses." In 19 1 2 our General Conference was held in Minneapolis. I had had birthday-showers 92 THE STORY OF MY LIFE other years in June, but this year a shower began in April that proved a real spring down- pour. It continued until the flood bore me on its crest to Minneapolis and home again, and provided me with all comforts throughout the Conference. To Dr. A. B. Leonard, my su- perintendent, am I indebted for the initiative, and to Dr. Johns and a host of others for the consummation of one of the most pleasant events of my life. I confess pleasure at seeing my name with those of the original organizers of the Anti- Saloon League, which occurred in Washington, D. C, in 1893, and to greater pleasure at see- ing the progress the cause has made since that day. I also give thanks to God that I live to see the great rising of missionary zeal in the Christian Church. This wave is not confined to any denomination, but is reaching the hearts of believers everywhere, to unite them in the prayer of Jesus, "That they may be one, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." In my earlier years I cherished the hope 93 THE STORY OF MY LIFE that I might some day visit the land of Pales- tine. But as that prospect fades, the prospect of seeing the New Jerusalem brightens. During the seventy years of my ministry, through God's blessing I have been permitted to respond to the first roll-call of my Confer- ence each year. It is my prayer that He will enable me to continue this record until I re- spond to the Roll-Call above. 94 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process, Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: May 2006 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111 I